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Experimental measurements of water content in crude oil emulsions by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy

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Abstract

We measured the water content (0.01%–0.25% w/w) in crude oil emulsions using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS). To improve the precision and range of the measurements, we used 1 and 10 mm thick quartz cells. The experiments were performed at 20 °C and the THz wave was transmitted vertically to the samples and detected on the other side. The experimental results suggest linear relation for the THz absorption coefficient and the water content of the crude oil emulsions in the observed range. The linear dependence facilitates high-precision measurements of the water content of crude oil. This suggests the potential of THz-TDS in determining the water concentration in crude oil and borehole fluid identification.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Lab of Petroleum Resources and Prospecting, Beijing, 102249, China

    Wu-Jun Jin & Kun Zhao

  2. Laboratory of Optical Sensing and Detecting Technology, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, 102249, China

    Wu-Jun Jin, Kun Zhao, Chen Yang, Chang-Hong Xu, Hao Ni & Shao-Hua Chen

  3. Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Terahertz Spectroscopy and Photoelectric Detection, CPCIF, Beijing, 100723, China

    Wu-Jun Jin & Kun Zhao

Authors
  1. Wu-Jun Jin
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  2. Kun Zhao
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  3. Chen Yang
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  4. Chang-Hong Xu
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  5. Hao Ni
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  6. Shao-Hua Chen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kun Zhao.

Additional information

This research is sponsored jointly by the National Key Basic Research Program of China (No. 2013CB328706), the Special-funded Program on National Key Scientific Instruments and Equipment Development (No. 2012YQ140005), the Beijing National Science Foundation (No. 4122064) and the Science Foundation of China University of Petroleum (Beijing) (No. QZDX-2010-01 and KYJJ2012-06-27).

Jin Wu-Jun is a PhD student in China University of Petroleum, Beijing. He graduated from Yangtze University and received Bachelor degree in 2008 and received his Master degree from China University of Petroleum (Beijing) in 2011. His main research focus is on oil-gas optics and down-hole fluid identification.

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Jin, WJ., Zhao, K., Yang, C. et al. Experimental measurements of water content in crude oil emulsions by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. Appl. Geophys. 10, 506–509 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11770-013-0404-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11770-013-0404-2

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